Opinion

Members of Lawrenceburg’s Anderson Post 34 of the American Legion appear to be getting a lesson in the old adage, “let no good deed go unpunished.”

News Editor Shannon Mason Brock reported that Lawrenceburg Mayor Edwinna Baker had decided the city should install a ball field on the Legion’s property despite the Post’s contention that the new field would interfere with parking needed during the annual Lawrenceburg Fair and Horse Show.

As we gear up to grow our gardens, I thought it’d be a perfect time for a little history lesson. A walk down memory lane from a 1900s issues of Stars and Stripes provides a vast amount of facts.

While our soldiers were fighting in World War II, the people of this country were called to do everything they could to help support them. One of those things were war gardens, better known as victory gardens.

Expectant mothers are getting a new tool to help keep themselves and their babies healthy: pregnancy tips sent directly to their cell phones.

The so-called text4baby campaign is the first free, health education program in the country to harness the reach of mobile phones, according to its sponsors, which include Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, WellPoint and CareFirst BlueCross and Blue Shield. Wireless carriers including AT&T, Verizon and Sprint have agreed to waive all fees for receiving the texts.

We want to express a sincere note of gratitude for all of the phone calls, get well cards and prayers Courtney has received both before and since her ACL surgery.

We are happy to report that her surgery went well and she is already undergoing therapy that will continue for the next eight months. It’s times like these that knowing you have such support helps you to recover even sooner.

My computer went belly up three days ago. I’ve had to revert to my yellow legal pad and black felt-tip pen, or whatever kind of tip it may be nowadays. This was, in the past, the only way I could write anything until I started working on my computer.

Now trying to go cold turkey from my machine for me is like withdrawal from tobacco. My hands flitter about with nothing to click. I can’t open up anything. My fingers yearn to delete the forwards in my e-mail, and not being able to check that is like a starvation diet.

I probably lost a layer or two of enamel while gritting my teeth during last Tuesday’s meeting of the Anderson County Fiscal Court.

Out of the blue, Judge-Executive Steve Cornish began discussing a recent budget committee meeting — a meeting about which the public should have been notified and one that I would have certainly attended.

When my husband and I lived in California, we first heard of Rush Limbaugh when Mike would be out on a construction job and the other carpenters had a radio tuned to KFBK-AM in Sacramento. Limbaugh was, before this job, a terminated rock DJ on his last leg to re-invent himself as a hard-nosed-but-humorous talk radio host. He hurled insults and joked about the lower middle-class neighborhood of Rio Linda in Sacramento.

Within the next day or two, local churches and pastors will find a letter from The Anderson News in their mailboxes.

Don’t worry — it’s not a bill. And it’s not a matter of what you owe us.

Instead, it’s a matter of what we owe you.

As a community newspaper, part of our job is to inform the public about events going on in the community. That’s why you’ll find a community calendar in each issue of our paper, and two (count them — two) community calendars on our website.

Have you noticed that it’s staying light longer? In only 52 days spring will arrive and it’s not too soon for me.

As time marches on, I watch the moon. As January draws its last breath, the Full Wolf Moon comes into view this Saturday. I hope all that white stays up in the air and not on the ground.

February is typically our roughest weather month. Remember, last year’s ice storm hit in February. February also brings Ground Hog Day on the second and the Full Snow Moon on February 28. Here on the farm, that means seed starting time.

It has been a privilege to serve the past 16 years as Coroner of this county. This community has provided me with tremendous support during each election and throughout each year of service. But, now with somewhat regret, I have decided not to seek re-election as Coroner of Anderson County.

During the worst economy in most of our lifetimes, the company that provides electricity to over 6,000 Anderson County homes and businesses boldly jutted out its chin and proposed a 13.7 percent rate increase for homeowners.

In terms of temerity, that would be on par with Tiger Woods borrowing his estranged wife’s computer to surf dating websites while on a visit to beg her to take him back.

Say what you want about Big Blue Nation — just don’t call us uncaring.

Along with guiding the Wildcats to an 18-0 record, being the only unbeaten team left in the nation and propelling the team to (what will inevitably be) a No. 1 ranking, John Calipari and his behind-the-scenes team organized the “Hoops for Haiti” telethon that raised over $1 million for the Red Cross to provide help in Haiti.

By now we’ve all heard about the devastating earthquake in Haiti. It is a disaster for untold numbers of people and it should make us all stop and think. Is our house as prepared as it should be? What if we had no stores right now? Food means survival.

Since this is my first column in The Anderson News, I wanted to tell how I ended up in Lawrenceburg. I was born in Kentucky, but after a few years in college I found my way to the West Coast. I spent 20 years in Northern California, met my husband and had my children there. In 1996, we decided to move back to Kentucky. We chose Lawrenceburg because we had a farm here.